Wheel decisions...

Discuss light weight issues concerning mountain bikes & parts.

Moderator: Moderator Team

Post Reply
User avatar
jekyll man
Posts: 1570
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:23 am
Location: Pack filler

by jekyll man

I've been running the stock wheels on my 2012 Trance (formula hubs/giant pxc2 rims) tubeless, and while I knew they were going to be the weak point on the bike, I've got fed up with how many times I've managed to burp the air out of them :-/

So its new wheel time.....
I don't want to break the bank, but also want a good all round set up (riding is a mix around here- boulder fields to singletrack, but nothing more than 2-3ft drop-offs) that's easily maintained etc.
QR15 front, standard 135mm QR rear,6 bolt disc and 26".
Not particularly heavy on parts or weight, so Clydesdale stuff wont be needed.

Options
I've built a few wheels up for others using hope hubs and Mavic 819?? UST rims. Built up unbelievably well and easy, feel and have been bombproof, but also feel quite porky. Advantages- parts readily available anywhere in uk for the hubs, and don't have to faff with conversion to tubeless.

Or hope's on Stans crests. Get mixed reviews from various sources on the rims. feel cheap, soft etc. your views?

Or maybe the farsports carbon rims on Novatecs? anyone any experience, and what are they like for running tubeless?
http://www.farsports.cn/product/detail.php/id-175.html

crossmaxes? Havent been a fan of mavic hubs in the past, or have they improved?

Or maybe something I haven't considered at all? Help me guys :beerchug:
Official cafe stop tester

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



Asymptotic
Posts: 253
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 11:06 am
Location: North Adelaide, South Australia

by Asymptotic

Got fed up as well struggling with an air compressor with non UST/tubeless rims and did a build with Crests.
Frankly they are awesome rims and pretty WW - inflate every kind of tubeless ready tire with a floor pump. Consider the Arch if you want to be really rough/ want more durability. Have also used Crossmaxes, they were pretty nice wheels but I dislike Mavic propriety spokes - so hard to get on short notice when they break.
Norwood & Adelaide Uni CC

jooo
Posts: 1510
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2011 3:48 am

by jooo

If you're worried about the Crest being too fragile, have you considered the ArchEX? (edit: Asymptotic beat me to it)

Pacenti make 26 inch versions of most of their rims with good weights, tubeless compatibility etc.

Not much reason to buy anything from Mavic if you're a lighter rider on XC terrain IMO.

But having said all of that, it's hard to go past Chinese carbon if they're in the budget. If you do get a prebuilt set, Novatec hubs are well proven and replacement parts are easy to find. The ones you posted have rims that are too narrow IMO. The internal width is quite a bit smaller than most common aluminum rims let alone some of the new carbon options. Most of the narrow rims also seem to come from molds that have been around for a while now and the internal shape is pretty unsuitable for easy tubeless setup. Light-Bicycle have some other options.

mattr
Posts: 4671
Joined: Fri May 25, 2007 6:43 pm
Location: The Grim North.

by mattr

We've been running hope/crest/355 on all our race bikes for ~4 years.
Barring hamfistedness, we've had no issues at all.
No dents, dings, one buckle (in hindsight, doing a rocky black dh run on a scale wasn't such a good idea, snapped a stem too) one snapped spoke (wife shifted into the spokes, then carried on pedaling for 15 seconds wondering what was going on, wheel was still rideable) and a couple of flats (neither avoidable).
As mentioned above, they go up tubeless instantly.
The alleged softness of the rim was a concern, but we've not seen any problems (I think with the very low sidewalls, extra volume of tyre and running large tyres in the first place has mitigated against this.) I've dented two mavics and an Easton in the same time period. (I reckon the soft material would make them relatively easy to fix without cracking too!)
TBH, for the money, it's quite hard to see past them. (Standard spokes too)

If you want something a little flashier in the hub stakes, have a look at justridingalong.com he had a nice selection of silly hubs you can match up with stans rims.

User avatar
jekyll man
Posts: 1570
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:23 am
Location: Pack filler

by jekyll man

Thanks for that.
My concern with the far sports rims was that they seemed narrow; you've backed that up. It's just that FS seem to be a known quality on here, so threw that into the mix. A lot of the newer Chinese carbon rims appear to be 650 or 29", but will look into light-bicycles options.

It was the softness of all stans rims i'd heard of, not just the crests, which could lead to sealing problems, but I guess the tyre will form around whatever to a degree. I don't think i'll be needing a burlier rim, so this looks like a sensible option.

Hub wise, I cant see the value of CK's or whatever. The hope's tick all the right boxes- reliable, parts readily available etc. I'd looked at I9's, but don't fancy been off the road while waiting for parts if (when?) they fail.
On top of that, the money saved, will allow a few extra goodies ;-)

So, looks like its the hope/ stans combo.
Cheers
:thumbup:
Official cafe stop tester

bm0p700f
in the industry
Posts: 5777
Joined: Sat May 12, 2012 7:25 pm
Location: Glermsford, Suffolk U.K
Contact:

by bm0p700f

I quite like DT Swiss rims. Never tried them with a tubeless set up though but I am sure DT Swiss have thought of this. My favourite hubs are the new XT. Just use a centre lock to 6 bolt adapeter or buy centre lock discs. I have the new XTR hubs and my word they are fantastic as you would expect. I have those build on tubular rims though for racing.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



CulBaire
Posts: 384
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2004 11:33 am
Location: T'ba!
Contact:

by CulBaire

I’m another plus one for the Stans rims; I had a set of light Olympics laced to 240’s a few years ago and they proved to be absolutely bomb proof at 1400g, with an 80kg rider hammering them; I never had any issues with dings or the cracks around the spoke holes (was an issue at the time). I am in the process of lacing up a set of Alpine’s to 350 hubs at the moment as my next 26” “race” wheels. The ease of maintenance is something that has drawn me to light wheels with standard spokes, replacements are easy to come by and in the event of an issue I shouldn’t be off the road (or trail) too long.


The China Carbon wheels from Light-Bicycle are well worth a look, especially their wider all mountain options.

Post Reply